


The Use of 'E'

by Ruenis



Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 06:38:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7747003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruenis/pseuds/Ruenis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While completing their English homework, the group learns the many uses of the letter 'e'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Use of 'E'

“Adding an ' _e_ ' makes things feminine.. right?” Inko asks, gently tapping her pencil against the couple sheets of papers in front of her.

“Yes..” Slaine says, wondering where she is going with this.

They have gathered at Inaho's home to work on some English homework and study, and though Slaine is a grade ahead, his homework is not all that different. He has slightly more difficult questions, but is able to do them with a bit of help. Calm and Nina are not allowed to give input unless requested, as per Inaho's advice; their knowledge of the English language is near perfect, leading to Inaho believing it best they do not help him, Inko and Slaine. Slaine has a shaky grasp on English, knowing it a bit better than Inko and Inaho, but not enough to bar him from aiding the two. If they have difficulty and no one knows the answer, they ask Calm and Nina for help. The two are sitting behind them, playing with some sort of handheld device; they finished their own homework hours ago.

“Are you referring to number five?” Inaho asks, causing Slaine to lean over and look at his sheet.

  1. **What is the usage of the letter 'e' when added to the end of certain words?**




“Yeah.. but..” Inko frowns slightly, “What words are they referring to?”

“ _Blonde_ and _brunette_ , I think,” Slaine offers. “Because.. erm.. you can spell it _blonde_ or _blond_ without an ' _e_ ', and it's either feminine or not.. and you can spell _brunette_ two ways, as well..” he explains slowly, wondering if his explanation makes sense. He remembers that Japanese does not make use of grammatical gender in the language, unlike both Russian and Icelandic, which makes use of masculine, feminine and neutral nouns. He is not sure if English has nouns like that, but knows that it has many rules that affect all types of words.

Inaho perks up, then, a slight mischievous glint in his eyes. “Then, does that mean your name is feminine as well?” he asks, gazing evenly at the blond.

Pulling away, Slaine glares at the other. “Shut up, Kaizuka,” he hisses, face going red.

“It was just a question.”

“A _stupid_ question.”

Inko stifles a giggle behind her hand, and Nina and Calm share a smile, Calm's full of more amusement. He resists the urge to comment.

“Is it?” Inaho asks again.

“What if it is?” Slaine retorts, quickly becoming flustered.

“I'm curious to what it means.”

“Ah, me, too,” Inko adds, nodding slightly, “What's your name origin?”

Slaine hesitates, gazing between the two. He knows Inko's intentions are more innocent than Inaho's, but telling her would mean telling all four of them. “.. it's.. feminine,” he murmurs, cheeks still heavy with a blush, “and.. it means 'health' in Gaelic..”

“It's pretty,” Inaho says, causing Slaine to glare at him further.

 

 

“Does ' _cut_ ' count?” Inko asks suddenly, causing Slaine and Inaho to look up at her. She has a curious look on her face, violet eyes flickering between the other two at their shared table.

“Does it count.. for what?” Slaine asks slowly, confused.

“As a word with ' _e_ '. If you add an ' _e_ ' to the end, then it's ' _cute_ ', right?” Inko asks, gently tapping her pencil against the paper, “And ' _cute_ ' would work, then.” She writes it out to demonstrate, showing the other two before erasing it from the margins; their homework has to be turned in neatly.

Slaine finds himself surprised. He had not given it much thought, not having any interest in learning a fourth language, and cannot be sure because his English is not as good as the other two foreigner's, but.. perhaps it _could_ work that way. “I.. suppose..” he murmurs, nodding after a moment, “It.. could probably work.” His gaze flickers to Inaho, who looks to be thinking.

“Then..” Inaho starts to say, Slaine tensing up upon seeing that glint in his eyes again.

“ _Don't_ ,” Slaine warns, “Don't say anything.”

Inaho ignores him and proceeds anyway, “Slaine's name is the same.”

Groaning inwardly, Slaine presses his forehead to the table, not sure how much more energy he has for Inaho's ridiculous comments.

“Because if you take away the ' _e_ ' then it's ' _slain_ '.. and if you add the ' _e_ ' at the end.. you get an attractive person.”

Slaine sighs loudly, mumbling, “Please shut up, Kaizuka..”

Smiling somewhat, proud of himself, Inaho shifts his gaze from Slaine's embarrassed posture to Inko, who also has a small smile on her lips. He rests his head in his hand, and looks back to Slaine, gently pulling at his hair.

“You shouldn't tease me..”

“I mean every word.”

 

 

“I just need two more words for this list..”

Nina perks up at that, glad to offer help. The trio have been working for almost three hours now, and her and Calm are starting to get hungry. Usually, Yuki would be around to provide them with snacks, but she has to work overtime today. “If you want the words, ' _fianc_ _é_ ' and ' _fianc_ _ée_ ' count,” she offers, causing the trio to raise their heads from their papers and look at her.

“Isn't that the term for people to be engaged?” Inko questions.

Calm answers, then, though he does not look up from the small device in his hands. “Yeah, uh.. the first one's for a guy..” he pauses, pressing a few buttons, “.. and the second's for a girl. You add an extra 'e' at the end for the girl.”

Nina looks over his shoulder, curious. She points to the screen and murmurs something in English, and then gives her attention back to the trio.

“Slaine,” Inaho murmurs, looking the blond in the eye.

“Not another word,” Slaine threatens, cheeks already going pink.

As usual, Inaho proceeds anyway: “If we got engaged, you'd be my ' _fiancé_ '.”

Slaine's face goes red. “We are _not_ getting engaged, Kaizuka,” he hisses, shaking his head, “There's no way I'd _ever_..–”

“We will,” Inaho murmurs, smiling again, “I'm persistent.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be funny;; I thought of this super late at night and found it amusing..  
> I hope you enjoyed flirty Inaho and random facts!


End file.
